The aim of yoga is to promote overall well being of the body. And though, it is found beneficial for a variety of conditions, it is not considered a therapy for specific illness. Unlike other forms of exercises, yoga has a more holistic approach to teach the people the right way to lead their lives disease free and stress free.
Yoga aims to calm and compose our minds and help us focus clearly on what really matters – good health and the happiness that accompanies it!
Benefits of Yoga
Mental health
Let us first begin with the benefits of Yoga on mental health. After all, good mental health is of paramount importance for being healthy physically as well. As advised above, breathing technique forms an integral part of Yoga. Do I hear you asking ‘how?’It really is very basic – by breathing deep and right, something that you would be doing when you practice Yoga, you are inhaling more oxygen and allowing the cells of your body to have access to that oxygen for a longer period of time.
Strength
Ever wondered, why so many of us, after a hard day’s work, come and plonk ourselves, on our home sofas, with very little energy to even fetch a glass of water for ourselves. This is caused by lack of inner strength. Certain asanas of the yoga help generate inner strength. Inner strength is essential in doing day to day activities and in preventing you from injuries. This is especially useful, as we grow old and need more energy and strength to do the same activity.
Flexibility
The popular notion that you need to be flexible in order to do yoga is incorrect; it is really the other way round – you should do yoga so that you can be more flexible. If you have a flexible body, you find it easy to do tasks. A lot of poses in Yoga concentrate on stretching and improving your flexibility.
Cardiovascular
Yoga has a lot of positive effects on the cardiovascular system of our body. A healthy cardiovascular system is responsible for preventing heart attacks, strokes and hypertension. Heart disease is a problem which has roots in an improper lifestyle, faulty diet and negative thinking. Our thoughts, emotions and feelings affect our body and negative emotions/thoughts send a series of complex and unhealthy chemical processes throughout the body, giving alarms that something is amiss. Yoga tends to control these by bringing in fresh life-giving oxygen. The anti oxidant properties of Yoga help in preventing the negative emotions and promote a general well being in the body.
Back pain
Yoga has helped innumerable cases of back ache. Back ache is caused due to stress and tension in the muscles supporting the spinal cord. Back ache may be caused due to improper postures mild injuries, which have been left untreated etc. Yoga has seemed to help cases of back pain by enhancing flexibility and strengthening the muscle groups supporting the spine, helping the body to maintain an upright posture. It eases the back pain by increase in blood circulation and getting healing nutrients to the injured muscles. Apart from healing injured muscles, it also prevents further injuries by strengthening the muscles.
Obesity
Obesity is when a person weighs more than his normal/ stipulated weight. This may be caused due to faulty eating habits, stress related eating, imbalances in the digestive and endocrine system or even something as basic as less physical exercise. Yoga helps obesity by inhaling more oxygen, which helps in breaking down fat cells and increasing your metabolism. Also, it helps remove sluggishness from the digestive and endocrine systems, making them work better.
Anti Ageing
Regular practice of yoga has anti ageing effects. Yoga revitalizes the mind and makes the approach towards life positive and stress free. Apart from this, a person practicing yoga regularly is more flexible, fit and mentally agile. Overall happiness and positive attitude towards life reflects on the face , leaving it glowing and reverses the ageing effect internally.
Yoga helps the body to unite with the other vital metaphysical aspects of the mind and spirit. It is also often defined as a lifestyle which aims to have a healthy mind within a healthy body.
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